Gesture Controlled Media Player

In this project, you will control a media player on a Raspberry Pi using hand gestures. The system uses a gesture sensor, such as the APDS-9960, to detect gestures like swiping up, down, left, right, or a wave to play/pause music and control volume.

1. Introduction to Gesture Controlled Media Player

This project demonstrates how to create a media player that can be controlled through hand gestures using a Raspberry Pi and a gesture sensor like the APDS-9960. It will allow the user to control music playback, volume, and other media functions with simple hand movements.

2. What You Need: Components and Tools

3. Wiring the Components

In this section, we will wire the APDS-9960 gesture sensor to the Raspberry Pi. The sensor communicates via the I2C bus, so we only need to connect the I2C pins and power the sensor.

4. Installing Required Libraries

We need to install the APDS-9960 Python library for gesture recognition and the VLC media player to play audio files.

1. To install the APDS-9960 Python library, run the following commands:
2. sudo apt-get update
3. sudo apt-get install python3-smbus python3-dev i2c-tools
4. git clone https://github.com/JamieLent/APDS-9960.git
5. cd APDS-9960 && sudo python3 setup.py install
7. Install VLC media player using:
8. sudo apt-get install vlc
10. For MPD (Music Player Daemon), install it using:
11. sudo apt-get install mpd mpc

5. Writing the Code to Control the Media Player

The following Python code uses the APDS-9960 library to detect gestures and control media playback using the VLC or MPD media player.

import timeimport vlcfrom apds9960.apds9960 import APDS9960from apds9960 import *# Initialize the APDS-9960 sensorsensor = APDS9960()sensor.init()sensor.enable_proximity_sensor()sensor.enable_gesture_sensor()# Initialize VLC media playerplayer = vlc.MediaPlayer()media = vlc.Media('your-audio-file.mp3')player.set_media(media)# Function to play the mediadef play_media():    player.play()    print('Media Playing...')# Function to pause the mediadef pause_media():    player.pause()    print('Media Paused...')# Function to stop the mediadef stop_media():    player.stop()    print('Media Stopped...')# Function to adjust volume (0-100)def adjust_volume(volume):    player.audio_set_volume(volume)    print(f'Volume set to {volume}')# Main loop to detect gestureswhile True:    gesture = sensor.read_gesture()    if gesture == GESTURE_UP:        play_media()  # Play media on upward swipe    elif gesture == GESTURE_DOWN:        pause_media()  # Pause media on downward swipe    elif gesture == GESTURE_LEFT:        adjust_volume(50)  # Set volume to 50% on left swipe    elif gesture == GESTURE_RIGHT:        adjust_volume(100)  # Set volume to 100% on right swipe    elif gesture == GESTURE_NEAR:        stop_media()  # Stop media on wave gesture    time.sleep(0.1)

6. Code Explanation

• The APDS-9960 sensor is used to detect gestures such as up, down, left, right, and near.
• The `play_media()` function starts media playback, while `pause_media()` and `stop_media()` pause and stop the media, respectively.
• The `adjust_volume()` function controls the media player’s volume, allowing users to increase or decrease volume with gestures.
• The main loop reads the gestures and executes the corresponding function based on the detected gesture.

7. Testing the Gesture-Controlled Media Player

1. Make sure the Raspberry Pi is connected to a speaker or has audio output set up.
2. Run the Python script by entering: `python3 gesture_media_player.py`.
3. Test different gestures: swipe up to play, swipe down to pause, swipe left/right to adjust volume, and wave hand to stop.

8. Enhancements and Advanced Features

Once the basic media player is functional, you can extend the project with more advanced features, such as:

1. Adding a graphical user interface (GUI) for additional controls.
2. Integrating a more advanced sensor, like a depth sensor, for more precise gesture detection.
3. Allowing gesture control to navigate a playlist or control a video player (e.g., VLC for videos).
4. Expanding gesture functions to control other media playback options like skipping tracks or adjusting brightness.

9. Applications

• Gesture-controlled home automation systems.
• Interactive media applications for hands-free operation.
• Gesture recognition for accessibility devices for people with disabilities.

10. FAQs: Gesture Controlled Media Player

11. Conclusion: What You’ve Learned

• How to set up a gesture-controlled system using the APDS-9960 sensor and Raspberry Pi.
• How to integrate gesture recognition with media player control on a Raspberry Pi.
• How to extend the project with additional functionality like volume control and playback control.

12. Resources and References

• https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/
• https://github.com/JamieLent/APDS-9960
• https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
• https://www.musicpd.org/